RCN urges States of Jersey to prove they value their nursing staff

Published: 29 November 2012

The RCN, along with other nursing and midwifery unions, has sent an open letter to the States Employment Board of Jersey (SEB) encouraging them to make nursing and midwifery staff on the island a fair pay offer.

Nursing staff in Jersey have been negotiating with the SEB all year for a pay offer that puts them on a par with other health care workers in similar roles and takes into account the high cost of living on the island.

The SEB was due to make the long-awaited offer on Tuesday (27 November) but has now delayed the decision until next week, the latest in a series of postponements on the issue.

The letter states that the SEB's decision "will affect not only nurses and midwives on the island, but also the public, by impacting on the Jersey health service."

It continues: "The cost of living on Jersey is high. And nurses and midwives on Jersey are paid between 8 and 18 per cent less, on average, than other health care workers in comparable roles. This makes recruiting nurses and midwives, and getting them to stay, difficult. This has been going on for some time, and places not only nursing and midwifery staff, but the health service we offer the public, under great strain."

Following the announcement the decision had been delayed again, RCN Convenor for Jersey, Kenny McNeil, said: "We have all been waiting for this week with bated breath, then on Monday afternoon we found the meeting had been postponed, again, and is now due to be held on Tuesday 4 December. We are incredibly frustrated by this as we feel we have already waited long enough."

The nursing and midwifery unions will now meet their members to discuss next steps.